Russia Unveils Details of Cryptocurrency Bill Expected in February

by ·
November 16, 2017

Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister announced that the cryptocurrency bill is expected to be ready by February 1. He then unveiled some details of the bill, including taxation and registration of crypto miners, trading restrictions for bitcoin, and initial coin offering (ICOs) regulations.

Crypto Bill Expected in February

The Russian finance ministry and the central bank are actively working together on a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and ICOs. This follows a mandate by president Vladimir Putin for their regulations to be implemented by July of next year. Deputy finance minister, Alexei Moiseev, said on Wednesday in an interview on Russia 24 TV Channel:

If I’m not mistaken, the proposals should be formulated by February 1 in the framework of the president’s mandate.

This bill is expected to be adopted in the Spring and lots of discussions are anticipated, he expressed. In addition, he “believes that changes to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in connection with the adoption of the draft law on the regulation of cryptocurrencies will not be required,” Tass conveyed.

Miner Licensing Unlikely But Taxes a Certainty

Olga Skorobogatova.

The finance ministry agrees with the central bank’s first deputy chairman, Olga Skorobogatova, who said earlier this week that “cryptocurrency mining is a kind of activity of legal entities and private entrepreneurs [which] should be taxed.”

In October, the finance ministry also proposed that crypto miners need to register with the government and any exchanges dealing with them needs to be licensed. However, the Tass reported Moiseev saying on Wednesday that:

The Ministry of Finance does not intend to introduce licensing for the mining of cryptocurrency but the mining will be taxed.

Crypto-Trading Restrictions & ICOs

As for cryptocurrency trading, Moiseev was quoted by Vestifinance on Wednesday stating:

We have not yet allowed cryptocurrency trading in the Russian Federation, that is, only ICO is offered.

He then reiterated his previous position, “We said that people can be allowed to buy and sell on licensed sites if they are qualified investors.”

As for bitcoin trading in the Russian market, the authorities intend to register all entities involved as soon as possible, the publication conveyed, adding that “however, it is possible that the restrictive measures will be temporary.” While emphasizing that bitcoin trading is “not directly legalized,” Moiseev also said, “there is no direct prohibition.”

The bill will also address ICO regulations. Moiseev explained that “there may be a limit on the amount,” the news outlet reported and quoted him saying “there should be some prospectuses and legal obligations.” In addition, there should be some secondary markets for ICOs, he elaborated, adding that “the issuer should be able to buy out.” Furthermore, ICO investors should be able to trade the tokens on secondary markets and all information must be accurately portrayed, he concluded.

What do you think the Russian cryptocurrency bill so far? Let us know in the comments section below.